Search Results

The doctors are speaking optimistically about a full recovery for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after he was rushed to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem after apparently losing consciousness. But in the midst of a bitter election campaign, the Israeli public will now be seeking clear-cut answers on the state of Sharon's health, now more crucial than ever after he single-handedly quit the ruling Likud to form the new Kadima party. Public opinion polls have consistently shown Kadima to have all other political parties far behind. However, in light of Sharon's illness, what will the next polls indicate?

The Likud election for a new party leader is off and running. The Likud central committee is expected to select December 19th for the primaries to elect the man they want to replace Ariel Sharon who now heads the new Kadima party. The internal Likud campaign will obviously dominate until the new leader emerges to face Sharon and newly elected Labor leader Amir Peretz.

It has been a dramatic day in Israel. Shortly after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that he was quitting the ruling Likud party and heading for an early election at the head of a new centrist party, Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon launched one of their heaviest attacks in years. Sharon has held a news conference spelling out why he has quit the Likud and how he views contacts with the Palestinians.

Within a couple of days Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to announce whether he will carry on as Likud leader or quit to form a new rival party in the upcoming early election. Now spending the weekend at his Negev ranch, Sharon has not given any hint of what he'll do. The latest poll in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper indicates the Likud would crash without Sharon and serves to strengthen the Prime Minister's hand in the tug of war with his rebellious party.

The stunning victory of Amir Peretz, the fiery Histadrut union boss who now leads the Labor Party, has shaken up Israeli politics. Both political friends and foes are reassessing what the implications are for their personal and their parties' futures. Peretz sources promise the new Labor leader is waging 'a new style of politics' that both his Labor party and Sharon's Likud will have to get used to. Peretz is taking the battle to Sharon by threatening to bring down the government by supporting a no-confidence motion in the Knesset on Wednesday if the PM does not meet with him before then to discuss the date for an early election. Meanwhile, Labor cabinet ministers also appeared worried about Peretz running a one-man show.

Amir Peretz is the new leader of Israel's Labor party. Peretz, the head of the powerful Histadrut Federation of Labor narrowly defeated the incumbent Shimon Peres in the Labor party primary. The Histadrut leader garnered 42% of the vote to 40% for Peres who was the front-runner during the campaign but Peres has challenged the results. Peretz, who ran on a strong socialist platform, declared his first goal is to take Labor out of the government coalition as soon as possible. In congratulating Peretz, Prime Minister Sharon invited the victor to meet on Sunday.

November 4th marks the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. It is time of memorial services and political soul-searching in the Jewish state which still confronts the same threats and dilemmas as it did ten years ago. Where has the country been since then and where might it be today, if Rabin had survived?

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opened the last session of Israel's parliament with a stern message for Iran and the Palestinian terrorists, as well as his political critics at home. After the new winter session, Israeli votes are scheduled to the polls, next fall, if not before then. In a carefully worded comment, Sharon referred to the threat by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about wiping Israel off the map. He also warned there would be no let-up in Israel's war against Palestinian terrorism. As for the future, Sharon declared he intends to win the next general election and open the new Knesset in 2006.

In one of his most forceful speeches, U.S. President George W. Bush has condemned Syria and Iran for supporting Islamist terrorism in general and Iraq in particular. Speaking in the White House, Bush declared that Iraq had become the battleground for the confrontation and he was determined to stay the course despite mounting criticism at home and abroad. What are the implications of the Bush address for Israel, the target of Palestinian terrorism that is also backed by Syria and Iran? Zalman Shoval, a foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S., discussed various aspects with David Essing.

The past Jewish year of 5765 has ended with the state of Israel and the Palestinians at a new juncture. Israel has withdrawn from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements under the leadership of a national unity government while the Palestinians are now in the throes of an internal confrontation. David Essing sums up the outgoing year and looks ahead to the new Jewish year of 5766.

After launching forty Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel's western Negev, Israel renewed its counter-terror operations. By week's end, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and even the Islamic jihad were calling for a return to the former cease-fire. However, Israeli officials say 'new rules' now apply; after Israel's total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, there will be no return to the 'low intensity' warfare. What are the implications on the ground and for the Roadmap peace process? What is the approach of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after implementing the unilateral withdrawal and nearly being trounced by former Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the Likud party convention? Dr. Raanan Gissin, Sharon's media advisor discusses the issues in this interview with David Essing.

It all began during a Hamas rally at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Friday. The Hamas members brought in pickup trucks loaded with Qassam rockets and explosives while waving their guns and shooting to all directions. The explosives were accidentally triggered, apparently as a result of the shooting, and the truck blew up, killing at least 19 Palestinians and injuring another 120. The Hamas was quick to blame Israel, which denied having anything to do with the incident.

In his address, to the U.N. General Assembly, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon spelled out the historic right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. At the same time, Sharon said he recognized the rights of the Palestinians and he would be ready in the years ahead to make the painful concessions necessary to live in peace and co- existence.Without referring to Iran by name, Sharon stressed the danger of Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons.

On Thursday evening, Israeli time, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to address the U.N. General Assembly with the world waiting to hear how the Israeli leader views the next stage of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Israeli officials say Sharon will hold out the vision of an independent Palestinian state but also reject the idea that the Palestinians can preserve the option of terrorism. The officials say it is now up to the international community to impress this on the Palestinian leadership.

What are the implications of the brutal killing of Moussa Arafat in the Gaza Strip? What does it reveal about the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas? Jordan's King Abdullah praises Ariel Sharon for implementing the disengagement while warning that al Qaeda may also be active in Israel. In the Likud leadership race, challenger Bibi Netanyahu is facing some tough decisions this weekend in the wake of latest public opinion polls.

Israel has reacted swiftly to the Katrina hurricane disaster in the U.S. Speaking at the weekly cabinet session, Prime Minister Sharon announced that an Israeli team will soon be flying to the U.S. to ascertain how the Jewish state can best help. In domestic politics, a new effort is underway in the Likud to cool off the feud raging between Arik Sharon and former Finance Minister that is threatening to tear the party asunder. In the Palestinian arena, new terror alerts from the West Bank have prompted IDF Chief Of Staff Dan Halutz to sound a sharp warning.

What's behind the dramatic meeting between Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Pakistani counter-part Kharshid Kasuri in Istanbul? Is Likud candidate Bibi Netanyahu defying U.S. President George W. Bush by announcing that, if elected Prime Minister, he will build housing to link Maale Adumim with Jerusalem? And what impact might a Likud split between incumbent Arik Sharon and challenger Netanyahu have on the next Israeli election? These are some of the key issues discussed by Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli Ambassador to Washington in an interview with IsraCast.

What happens now, after Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements? How do the Palestinians view the new emerging situation? Dr. Ahmed Subuh is the deputy Minister of Information in the Palestinian Authority and in this interview with David Essing he discusses the burning issues in the post disengagement period and in the run-up to the Roadmap negotiations.

Former Finance Minister Bibi Netanyahu has announced his candidacy for Likud leader and party candidate for prime minister. The Likud central committee is to meet on September 26th to vote on a date for primaries that are expected around the end of November. At present, polls indicate that Netanyahu leads Sharon and a far right candidate MK Uzi Landau who resigned from the cabinet in protest over the disengagement.